Home Commentary What R.I.’s SBA honorees remind us about America at 250

What R.I.’s SBA honorees remind us about America at 250

By

Karl Wadensten

-

04/07/2026

TgQDXYyy-wadensten0306 — Karl Wadensten

I am honored to be heading to Washington after being named Rhode Island’s Small Business Person of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration. However, this moment is not really about one person, one company or one title. It is about possibility and purpose. It’s about the kind of people Rhode Island continues to produce and celebrate. I began thinking about that as I

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I am honored to be heading to Washington after being named Rhode Island’s Small Business Person of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration. However, this moment is not really about one person, one company or one title. It is about possibility and purpose. It’s about the kind of people Rhode Island continues to produce and celebrate. I began thinking about that as I looked at this year’s other Rhode Island SBA honorees: leaders from different industries, different paths, and different stories, yet bound by something unmistakable. They are builders, makers, doers and problem solvers. People who create opportunity, strengthen community and make others better through the work they do. That deserves more than a luncheon and a press release. It deserves reflection. In a time when so much public conversation can feel cynical, divisive or hollow, these honorees remind us of something sturdier and more hopeful: There are still people among us doing the hard, practical, often unglamorous work of building something that matters. They are leading family businesses, supporting entrepreneurs, designing products, growing companies, serving customers, developing people and investing themselves in the future of this state. That is not small and it is not incidental. It gets to the heart of something I believe deeply - every person company, states and even countries need a why. Our why is our backbone, the strength beneath our ambition, the conviction beneath our work - the steady force that carries us through challenge and into renewal. As America nears its 250th year, we would do well to remember that this nation was forged by achievers, by people who fought for liberty, built communities, created opportunity and refused to surrender to hardship. That legacy is not merely something to honor; it’s something to continue. It lives on in our builders, our makers, our doers, and in the small businesses that express, every day, a stubborn and generous belief in the future. Small business is one of the clearest places where America’s why becomes visible. Why? Because small business is where freedom meets responsibility. It is where ideas become jobs, where values get tested in real life and where leadership stops being a concept and starts becoming action. Payroll, product development, training, customer service, quality, risk, stewardship - keeping promises when it would be easier to make excuses. That kind of work rarely makes headlines. However, it builds trust, families, communities, and, over time, it helps build a nation. Rhode Island understands this in a special way. We are small, but we have never thought small. This state has long punched above its weight because our people do. There is something about Rhode Island that continues to produce men and women with a certain mix of grit, ingenuity, practicality and heart. Here, impact still feels personal. You can still meet the owner, walk the floor, know the founder, and see the connection between effort and outcome. You can still find businesses and leaders who understand that success is not just about scale. It is about substance, contribution and leaving things better than you found them. That is why this year’s Rhode Island SBA honorees matter so much. They represent different industries, but together they tell a single story about who we are. Marcia and Julie Blount of Blount Boats. Jessica Mello of Community Investment Corp. Lancelot and Dana Pinnock of Hideaway Solutions. Jennifer McCabe of Cookie Chow. Julia Girman of JG Fitness & Performance. Abby and Akos Antwi of Revive Therapeutic Services. Amanda Mottola of Otraswag. Maureen Ewing of the R.I. Department of State. In each of them you can see the same animating spirit: commitment, discipline, enterprise and the willingness to create something of value for others. They are not simply recipients of awards, they are reminders of what is still possible in this country. As our nation prepares to celebrate 250 years, we have a chance to do more than commemorate the past. We have a chance to recommit ourselves to the qualities that carried this country forward in the first place, courage, resilience, initiative, sacrifice, service, and the belief that free people, working with purpose, can build something worthy together. That is America at its best. Built by people who fought for freedom. Built by people who started businesses. Built by people who taught others. Built by people who made things, fixed things, improved things, and refused to quit. That inheritance is still with us. If Rhode Island has a why, perhaps it is this: To show that small places can lead in big ways, and that America’s spirit still shines brightest in those willing to build, serve and leave things better than they found them. That is certainly what I see in this year’s honorees. I see people whose work reflects the character of this state and the promise of this country. I see people who understand that leadership is not about status, but stewardship. I see people who know that business, done right, can be a force for dignity, opportunity and renewal. So yes, I am grateful for this recognition. But even more, I am grateful to stand beside fellow Rhode Islanders whose work reflects the best of who we are. Karl Wadensten is a member of the R.I. Commerce Corp. board and president of VIBCO Inc., a manufacturing company based in Richmond. He has spent more than 25 years helping build and retain jobs in Rhode Island’s small and midsized business sector. He also teaches a BUS 410 level Lean Six Sigma Green Belt course at the University of Rhode Island.